These are higher order ambisonic (HOA) VST2 and AAX plugins
for macOS (10.7+) or Windows
(Win7+) running on 32bit/64bit Intel. They can be hosted in some Digital
Audio Workstations (DAWs) that can handle tracks with at least 16 channels.
Options include Reaper,
Pro Tools Ultimate,
Pyramix and Max/MSP.

Highlights

Making 3D Audio

These plugins uses 16 audio channels to capture a 3D audio scene.
Technically, this is SN3D-encoded third order ambisonics using ACN
channel ordering (sometimes known as AmbiX). We refer to
it here as O3A B-Format, or just O3A for short.

We can make this O3A material using a number of techniques
including upmixing, but the
simplest way is often to use one of the panning plugins from this library.

There are six different panners in the library, so you can choose
the one is most natural for you. But they all have elevation controls.
With O3A, you can put sounds in any direction: left, right, front, back, and also up and
down.

Mixing and Mastering 3D Audio

The 3D audio streams can be mixed together and modified in 3D.
You can do most of the things that you can do with a stereo
stream, but quite a lot more too! For instance, the O3A Core includes
plugins that allow the whole 3D scene to be rotated, perhaps because
the listener has turned to the side.

Seeing What's Going On

Really useful tools in the O3A Core are the O3A Visualiser or O3A Flare plugins, which
provides a real-time view of sound directions in the O3A mix.

... And Hearing

One of the clever things about O3A (and ambisonics in
general) is that the O3A mix isn't tied to a particular speaker
layout, so you can "decode" it for different speaker layouts, or
binaural stereo.

The O3A Core comes with a few simple decoders, including 5.1 and
simple stereo. Blue Ripple Sound also offers a
dedicated decoding product with
more preset options, including binaural 3D sound on headphones. Finally,
Rapture3D "Advanced"
lets you set up custom layouts with many speakers
and use personalized HRTFs on headphones.

Plugin List

O3A Panner

I/O: 1 in, 16 out

This plugin places a sound in a particular direction in a 3D O3A
mix.

O3A Panner - Classic

I/O: 1 in, 16 out

This plugin places a sound in a particular direction in a 3D O3A
mix. It uses a simple GUI.

O3A Panner - Hemisphere

I/O: 1 in, 16 out

This plugin places a sound in a particular direction in a 3D O3A
mix. It uses a non-standard GUI that some composers prefer.

O3A Panner - Large

I/O: 1 in, 16 out

This plugin places a sound in a particular direction in a 3D O3A mix, using a large control surface.

O3A Panner - Two Channel

I/O: 2 in, 16 out

This plugin places two sounds in particular directions in a 3D O3A
mix.

O3A Panner - Eight Channel

I/O: 8 in, 16 out

This plugin places eight sounds in particular directions in a 3D O3A mix.

Tech Requirements

Operating System

Supported versions of Microsoft Windows are Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10. Supported versions of Apple macOS are 10.7 or later, Intel only. The VST plugins are available in 32bit or 64bit forms on both platforms (packaged as a Universal Binary on macOS). The AAX plugins are 64bit only.

VST Host

The VST plugins require a VST 2 host with shell plugin support.

These plugins do not work with all VST 2 hosts. One reason for this is that the O3A plugins need large numbers of channels on their input or output busses. Check the individual plugins for the channel counts they need, but all of the O3A plugins need at least 16 channels on each track, and some need more. Also note that not all VST 2 hosts can use shell plugins. In particular, at the time of writing shell plugins are not supported in Nuendo or Cubase.